James Arness 1923 – 2011
Iconic Gunsmoke actor James Arness died on Friday of natural causes at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles. He was 88.
He and his younger brother, Mission Impossible actor Peter Graves, were born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graves died in March 2010 – bio and obituary.
Arness, 6-foot-7, portrayed Marshal Matt Dillon with convincing authority for 20 years. The television western spanned 1955-1975 and made history with 635 episodes. He also appeared in five made-for-television Gunsmoke movies between 1987 and 1994.
The legendary western actor is survived by his second wife Janet Surtees and a son Rolf, who became a World Surfing Champion in 1970
Besides his brother Peter Graves, the actor is preceded in death by a son Craig, a photographer for National Geographic who died in 2004, and a daughter Jenny, who committed suicide in 1975 at the age of 25.
View another photo of Arness and check out some vintage Gunsmoke footage below:
Photos: WENN